Box score
ABERDEEN, S.D. – St. Cloud State University turned two straight Northern State University fumbles into touchdowns, scoring three times in the final two minutes of the first quarter en-route to a 42-10 victory over the Wolves Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division football action.
The match-up marked the fourth straight time the Wolves ran up against a team that was either ranked or receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25 poll. The Huskies fit the latter of that criteria and improved to 4-1 on the season and an unblemished 4-0 in NSIC play. NSU slipped to 0-5 on the year and 0-4 in the loop.
The Wolves opened the game with a promising drive following the opening kick-off, but stalled out after opting to go for it on 4th-and-13 from the SCSU 32.
SCSU took over the ball on their own 27 yard line and promptly drove 73 yards in a minute, 53 seconds to take the lead on a 4-yard Phillip Klaphake-to-Fred Williams pass. The Klaphake to Williams play worked will for the Huskies throughout the day, as the two hooked up nine times for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
After forcing the Wolves to punt on their next possession, the Huskies went on a scoring spree that saw three TDs in less than two minutes. SCSU first went on a 5-play, 76-yard drive that ended on another Klaphake-Williams pass. The Huskies used the play-action pass to their advantage in that drive, as Klaphake threw completions of 15, 25 and 33 yards before finding Williams on a 6-yard route for the score.
The Wolves then regained possession, but fumbled the ball on the first play of the drive. SCSU's Tony Kubes scooped up the loose ball and scampered 20 yards into the endzone for the quick score.
Again, the Wolves regained possession on the ensuing kickoff, getting a good return out to the 26-yardline. SCSU forced another fumble, however, on a gang tackle of the NSU return man
Trevor Mau. The Huskies' Jack Moro recovered the ball, setting up a 30-yard TD pass to Williams for the fourth and final touchdown of the first quarter for the Huskies.
The Wolves held the Huskies to just two more touchdowns on the day, one in the second quarter and one in the third. NSU's
Lincoln Smith also blocked an SCSU field goal attempt in the second quarter.
NSU got on the board in the third quarter on a 43-yard Thomas Parrott Field goal. The Wolves followed that up with Matt Anderson's second career touchdown in the fourth quarter. Anderson capped a 10-play, 49-yard drive with a diving play, reaching the ball just inside the pylon as he went out of bounds.
NSU had another 13-play drive going inside the SCSU 10-yardline as time ran out on the game.
The Wolves, who played three of their first five games at home, now hit the road for two straight weeks, starting next Saturday at Augustana. The Vikings squeaked out a 22-16 road win over Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday.
